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Acupuncture goes back as far as the Stone Age in China, when stone knives and pointed rocks were used to fight pain and diseases. These instruments were known by the ancients as "bian." In the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) an Analytical Dictionary of Characters "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" describes the character "bian" as meaning a stone to treat disease. Later these stones were replaced by needles made of bamboo and slivers of animal bone, then finally in the Shang Dynasty bronze casting techniques made metal needles possible, which conducted electricity (and qi). This led to the mapping of the meridian system or "channels" of energy within the body.
A primer on traditional Chinese herbal tonics. The Daoist arts put almost immeasurable emphasis on cultivating the "Three Treasures". This article explains the three treasures (jing, qi, shen) as well as yin/yang as it relates to traditional herbalism.
Traditional Chinese Medicine classifies foods by their energetic values rather than their caloric or fat content. Below is a list of common foods and their classification.
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